In commemoration of the founding of the Organisation of Africa Unity which was created in 1963, May 25th has been tagged Africa Day. It is also set aside annually by Showmax to specially Spotlight content from Africa.
Showmax, the Africa Streaming platform is commemorating the day this year by spotlighting content from each part of the continent- the West, South, North, and East Africa. The four titles that are to be spotlighted include “The Real Housewives of Lagos”, “This is not a burial, It’s a resurrection”, “Africa and I” and “Softie”.
The Real Housewives of Lagos which is the latest edition of the hit reality TV show franchise described the lives of six of the most glamourous women in Africa’s largest megacity which includes; Real Estate Entrepreneur ‘Carolyna Hutchings’, lawyer and luxury hair brand owner ‘Chioma Ikokwu’, Nollywood actress ‘Iyabo Ojo’, influencer ‘Laura Ikeji-Kanu’, PR expert ‘Mariam Timmer’, and celebrity stylist ‘Toyin Lawani-Adebayo’.
However, the show has set a new record for the most first-day views on Showmax in Nigeria after trending at #1 on Twitter in both Nigeria and South Africa. Other interesting West African content includes; Ghana Jollof, Eno, The Rishantes, Movement Japa, My Flatmates, The Johnsons, and many more.
“This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Ressurection”, produced by Urucu was a movie that stars the late great Mary Twala Mhongo (Black Is King) in her final film role as an 80-year-old widow in Lesotho who finds a new will to live and ignites a collective spirit of defiance within her community when her village is threatened with forced removals due to the construction of a reservoir. The movie has won over 33 international awards, including the Visionary Filmmaking Prize at Sundance 2020. We also have Fastani: ATale of Survival as another interesting South African content in Malawi’s 2022 Oscar entry.
“Africa and I” is a 90-minute documentary about how 20-year-old Othmane Zolati walked, hitchhiked, cycled, and skateboarded over 30,000 km across Africa, through 24 countries. The documentary won the Jury Award for Best Feature Documentary at the Pan African Film and Art Festival earlier this month. Other notable North African content include “Cairo Station” and “Alexandria Why?”
Directed by Sam Soko, Softie follows Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi as he tried his hands at politics for the first time in the 2017 elections and finds himself torn between his duty to his country and his family. Softie has won five international awards so far. Other notable East African Content includes Showmax Original, Crime and Justice, and Njoro Wa Uba.
Showmax remains committed as an African platform to telling African stories and promoting local talent across the continent.